In a statement about Dzodan’s arrest Facebook pointed out that WhatsApp is an operationally separate company and claimed it could not technically provide the information that the police wanted as it has no key to the encrypted messages.

“Facebook has always been and will be available to address any questions Brazilian authorities may have,” it added.

WhatsApp is extremely popular in Brazil and is used by about half the country’s population.

Brazilian courts have not shied away from targeting senior technology officials in the past.

In 2012, an elections court in Mato Grosso do Sul ordered the detention of Google’s most senior executive in Brazil after the company failed to take down YouTube videos attacking a local mayoral candidate.